Richard Jefferson retires from Basketball

Richard Jefferson has gone through a lot this year, so it comes as no surprise that this decision came about. Jefferson has been talking retirement for the past few years, but the tragic loss of his father who was shot and killed in September has probably made his decision to hang up the jersey final.

In his Instagram post, his first ever actually he spoke of the two life-changing events in his life – his “[…] decision to move on from basketball and the tragic passing of Big Rich. The support of my family and friends have been huge.”

We are were sad that Richard Jefferson’s retirement is clouded by the tragic passing of his father, but we still have to look over his 17 seasons in the NBA.

Richard Jefferson played 17 seasons in the NBA, winning a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 as a key role player off the bench. He averaged 8.2 minutes per game in 20 appearances with the Denver Nuggets last season. During his career Jefferson also played for the Nets, Bucks, Spurs, Warriors, Jazz and Mavericks.

And just to remind ourselves of what Richard Jefferson brought to the NBA, let’s check out his best dunks for each year in the 2001 – 2017 time span:

He definitely was an NBA journey-man, but was such an important piece on and off the court for the Cleveland Cavaliers in their Championship run in 2016:

He was a very well-loved player in the locker room, but he had a special relationship with Channing Frye, and here’s their story: